*Gotta be honest, not my best chapter but I had the need to publish it since I couldn't really figure out how to fix it in the way I wanted it to be. Whatever it's done.
Chapter 2:
Before heading into the station, the two girls searched around the fire escape stairway for any extra supplies left behind. They had found some extra ammo for Claire and also a toolbox that was left open on a trash can next to the door that led inside. Veronica took a peek inside it and found a hammer lying amongst the tools. The claw side would prove useful in stabbing the dead as an extra weapon, so she put it on her person. She also noticed a pile of wooden planks over by the stairs, but she left them there since she wasn't sure what to use them for yet.
Once they were done searching, Claire led the way and carefully opened the door. It was not the welcome party that they were expecting. They were met with the gruesome sight of a pile of dead bodies lying in puddles of blood. It was splattered all over the walls and the metallic smell was intense. Some looked to be civilians but many were police officers. It was a massacre.
"Oh no!" Claire whispered in shock. Veronica covered her mouth and nose with one hand to block the stench, but it was so strong it lingered. If this part of the station looked like this, then what did this mean for the rest of it? Is this even a good idea anymore?
The place was dimly lit with only a few working emergency lights. Most of the windows, but one was boarded up and it gave Veronica a sinking feeling to see it uncovered. There was an office in front of them that looked lit up, but they could see someone staggering about inside. As they watched the person move, they realized that they weren't alive.
Deciding to stall from going in there just yet, they turned their attention to another door to their right and upon opening it, they found a small office. Inside it, however, was an officer dead on the floor. Well...half an officer.
It was only the torso of a caucasian young man and with how fresh the blood looked, Veronica figured he must've died not even a few hours ago. Maybe less. Seeing his guts spilled out made Veronica's stomach roll and bile rise in her throat. She almost threw up but was able to stop herself when the dead man suddenly pushed up onto its arms and growled at them.
Its eyes were a milky white as it stared them down and began crawling towards them. It was almost comedic to watch, but considering the circumstances, no one laughed. The girls looked at each other then back at the dead man. Veronica took out that hammer she had found and walked towards it.
"I got this one!" With that said, it was easy to plunge the claw into its brain. All movement stopped and it was dead for good. Just behind the desk it had crawled from was an open entryway that seemed to be clear of any other zombies. On the other side was the bottom half of the officer's body, only it looked like it had been already munched on by other zombies. Before they walked through to this section of the station, Claire noticed a slip of paper on the desk nearby. She picked it up and glanced over it thinking it could be something important.
"Looks like it was torn out from a small notebook," she noted. On one side were two messy sketches, one of a unicorn with a shield while the other on top of it looked like a lion. Beneath the unicorn was a code of some sort, but the last symbol was torn off with the page. If there was a similar code beneath the lion, it was unreadable because it was caked in dried up blood. The brunette turned the page over and saw half of a sketched-out plan on it. Veronica peeked over her shoulder to see and looked over the illustrations.
"Maybe this is a clue on finding a way out of the station. Maybe to one that isn't infested with monsters?" she suggested.
"Maybe," the other responded while slipping the paper into her jeans pocket. "If this part of the station looks this bad, maybe this place isn't as safe as we thought. This plan might be our only way into getting to somewhere safer."
"Ok. Well, the least we can do is search the rest of this area for supplies. We can keep an eye out for more of these pages! If we find Leon or Chris on the way, great! Hopefully, they're around here somewhere."
"Sounds good to me. We'll finish this floor then head towards his office. I know where it is. I'll go first, you cover me from behind." With somewhat of a plan in mind, they stepped over the dead policeman's body and began making their way through the entryway. Just past the threshold was a small breaker box on the wall that must've powered the gate that opened to this section. On the wall next to it was a knife stabbed into the ugly yellow wallpaper. Claire decided to take it since Veronica had her hammer.
Continuing forward, they walked around the corner to a corridor lined with windows. The rain splattered against the glass eerily against the quiet and it felt so exposed to the outside. At the end of the hall was a dead end with piles of random cleaning supplies, a lone door, and a staircase that led to a locked door. Where it would lead to, they didn't know. Checking amongst the cleaning supplies, the girls found, to their surprise, a small bundle of fire grenade launcher rounds.
"Do you think they would have such a thing here?" Veronica asked while slipping the few large rounds into her pouch, just in case.
"You never know. This is a police station, after all. Any weapons we can find, we should really take."
"Finders keepers," Veronica mumbled dryly.
Across from their findings was the lone door they had seen when walking in. Claire went first and twisted the knob, pushed the door in before aiming her flashlight and gun cautiously into the darkness. It was still very quiet, but it was also too dark to see inside.
She slid her hand across the wall to switch the light on, revealing what looked like a break room. The walls were composed of emerald green wallpaper that looked washed out against the grey concrete trimming. There were a couple of tables with chairs, some lockers, another big box, and a dartboard on the wall.
On the table was a blue plant, a typewriter, an old hat, and a radio. The fridge in the corner was the definite telling sign that this was a break room, and if that wasn't it, the connecting room with bunk beds and a sink was. The room was surprisingly clean compared to the outside world, but they weren't complaining. Thankfully, it was empty and the metal door could also be locked. This could be a designated safe room for them.
"This looks nice," Veronica said while setting her weapon down onto the table. Claire followed suit by putting away her gun and locking the door behind them. A quick five-minute rest wouldn't hurt. It's not like they were stalling or anything. Checking the lockers for supplies, they found a can of high-grade gunpowder and some ammo for Veronica's gun. "Gunpowder? How do we use that?"
"Well for starters, we need another can to combine it with. Depending on what it's combined with, it can make more ammo. Don't worry! I know how to do it."
"Shocking really," the brunette joked sarcastically. Claire giggled at that as she walked into the room with the beds. Veronica found it was a nice sound to hear.
"After riding on a motorcycle for hours only to run through a zombie-infested city, a bed sounds so good right about now!" she said as she sat on one of the bottom bunks. The other girl joined her by sitting on the bed across from it. While it wasn't a cloud to sit on, it was better than anything she had been on all day.
"You have no idea," Veronica sighed tiredly before flopping back onto the mattress. It was meant to be a joke, but it was all too true once she fell onto it. Her eyes wanted to shut so badly. "I haven't sat down in hours. I could really use a nap." Hearing that piqued Claire's interest.
"I'm really surprised you've survived this long. I mean, I've only been wandering around for like probably, what, an hour and I've almost gotten eaten like five times." She watched as Veronica rolled onto her side to face her, propping her head up with her arm. The exhaustion was evident on her face.
"You're telling me! I drove in sometime around 3 or 4 pm. It wasn't even raining yet. You really don't realize how much time has passed when you're trying to survive something like this until it all goes dark."
"You said something about coming here to see your friend, right? Did you ever find them?"
"No. Her apartment building was infested with zombies. There was no way I could get in to check."
"But you still couldn't leave?" Veronica shook her head.
"My car broke down just outside of the city, so I walked all the way here to find some help. Took me an hour too...Only I get to find the city in the middle of the outbreak, so one thing led to another and I was trapped here. I tried to find multiple ways out of the city for hours, but a lot of the roads are out or filled with zombies. No safe house would let me in and you're the first person I was able to fully meet alive without a gun being pointed at my face."
"Jesus! And with no weapons, I'm guessing? I'm surprised you're still alive!" Veronica rolled onto her back, her gaze staring holes into the mattress above her. The terrifying memories of evading those monsters replaying in her mind.
"Me too." She paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. "I guess I'm pretty good at hiding and running. It was all I could do. Not exactly the most badass of tactics, but it's better than being eaten alive." Claire could see the other was starting to feel low, so she got up and grabbed the extra chair that was near her. She pulled it closer to the other bed and positioned it to sit on backwards, her legs on either side.
"For what it's worth, you've made it this far on your own. That sounds pretty badass to me," Claire said softly. Veronica turned her head to look over at her new companion. She gave a small smile and got one in return.
"Thank you, Claire. That's really nice of you to say."
"It's no problem! We're gal pals now, right?" she asked as she reached over and offered her pinky out to the other. Veronica giggled and hooked her own pinky around hers. The gesture was sweet and, honestly, it was the best thing to happen all day. She may not have known her long, but she cared very easily for others and after everything she had been through that day, she realized how much she took friends for granted.
"Absolutely!"
After a moment, they pulled their hands back and sighed. Claire rested her chin on her arms while Veronica laid onto her back again and shut her eyes. Just for a few more minutes. Even though she was trying to relax, a sudden chill ran through her body.
Now that the adrenaline had gone down, the cold was seeping through her drenched clothes. She didn't exactly plan on running through the rain in a zombie-infested city. To say she was unprepared was a no brainer.
She rubbed at her arms to try and create some friction, but it didn't do anything but make her feel even colder by pressing the wet fabric to her skin. Her teeth slightly chattered, even as she tried to fight the shivers but to no avail. Suddenly, the sound of the chair scraping against the floor caught her attention. She opened her eyes just in time to see Claire pulling the sheet off of the other bed then turning to her.
"What are you doing?" she asked while sitting up, her legs swinging over the edge of the bed.
"You look like you're freezing over here," Claire replied as she sat next to her before draping the sheet over her shoulders. "Looks like you need a little help warming up." Blood rushed to Veronica's cheeks as she pulled the fabric closer to her.
"Oh! T-thank you, but you really don't have to do that."
"Nonsense. It's the least I can do," Claire said while rubbing softly over Veronica's arms to cause some friction. "I would lend you my jacket, but it's just as wet on the inside. Sorry." The heat from Claire's hands was nice against the cold wet fabric, but the overall sweet action of trying to make her comfortable had Veronica warming up just as easily. Just the thought of Claire draping her with her jacket was enough for her to feel a flutter in her chest. God, I am way too gay for this, she thought.
"I-it's fine! Thank you." Claire hummed softly as she pulled her hands away to rest at her sides. "What about you? Aren't you cold?"
"Not really, but you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine! I've been through some tough situations before." Veronica nodded in understanding as she gripped the sheet around her tighter. She internally debated on whether to share it, but before she could make a decision, Claire turned to her again.
"Feeling any better?" Veronica again nodded, her body temperature feeling a little more normal than before. "Good."
They both knew they had to get going. They had been there for too long already and there was still a lot more work to be done. Allowing themselves these few minutes were nice, but they knew stalling wouldn't get them anywhere out of the city any time soon. It was scary, but Veronica had a feeling that as long as she was at Claire's side, they would be ok.
"We should go," she said. Claire nodded in agreement and stood up from the bed. She let out a hand for the other and helped her up, leaving the sheet behind on the mattress. They took one last glance around the room for extra supplies and, to their surprise, they found a box of submachine gun ammo on the sink.
"Ohoho! This place just keeps getting better and better!" Claire exclaimed as she put it into her pouch. The new ammo they kept coming across made Veronica nervous. These weren't just rinky-dink handguns they were going to find lying around. They were real weapons and the fact that she might have to use one was scary. But that was a bridge she would have to cross when they got there.
The two survivors stocked themselves back up and prepared themselves for the next part of their journey. They knew their mission: to explore the department and find other survivors, especially Leon and Chris. Then they'll need to find the way out, hopefully with the help of the page of clues they had found. Claire got to the door and grabbed the knob, turning to her companion.
"You ready?"
"Let's do this!"
The two girls carefully left the room with Claire leading and Veronica watching out from behind. They walked back the way they came from and ended up back in the body filled hallway from where they entered the building. Nothing seemed to have changed, but now they had a couple of choices on where to go next.
"So either we can go into the office where there is possibly a zombie or we can head down the pitch-black hallway. What do you think?" Claire asked.
"Geez, I don't like any of those choices." She paused as she took in her environment to debate her choices. "I don't really hear anything in the hallway, but it'll be hard to see." She gave it another moment of thought. "Let's go through the office first and see what we can find. Then we can roundabout or something."
"Ok. Looks like it's open!" she said, nodding to the broken yellow chain at the foot of the door. They were about to reach the door when a zombie suddenly slammed itself against the window that Veronica noticed was not boarded up. After a few slams, the glass shattered letting it in.
"Shit!" Claire raised her gun and shot an almost perfect headshot. The loud bang rang in Veronica's ears as she watched the body fall to the ground, blood seeping out onto the floor from its head. After seeing the half-eaten officer in the other room, it wasn't nearly as bad to see happen, but it still made her stomach a little queasy. That probably wasn't a very good thing. She looked over at the broken window then remembered the boards outside.
"Wait! We should board that up! Hold on!" she said before running back outside. Some zombies had made their way to the gate and pawed at it hungrily, but they weren't getting in. She quickly grabbed the boards and then picked out a few nails from the toolbox, putting an extra few into her pouch.
Running back inside, she got to the broken window and set the boards down. Claire immediately got the idea and went to help. In no time, the window was safe. Just in time too as a zombie began trying to press against the wooden boards, but to no avail. Hopefully, those things will hold up.
With that done, the two slowly walked into the office and found it to be well lit and quite large. There was a lone officer staggering around the middle of the room, turning to them with empty eyes. It growled at them long enough for a bullet to pierce it between the eyes, the body falling to the floor with a loud thud. It happened so quickly that Veronica stood there in slight shock.
"Holy shit, Claire! Your aim!" Veronica blinked as she put away her own gun. Claire did the same and smirked at her.
"Thanks! You could say I'm a pro!" she winked playfully before turning to look at a desk. Veronica all but choked on her own spit at that. Getting a hold of herself, she took a good look over the room. All of the windows were thankfully boarded up, even with another zombie swiping at one of them hungrily. There was a dead officer next to one of the said windows where some ammo for Claire was found on him.
Searching the room, the girls didn't find much in terms of supplies and there were no other pages of clues. While Claire found more gunpowder cans, Veronica noticed a strange looking canister sitting on one of the desks. Picking it up, she looked over it curiously. It was blue and had a round pin attached to the top. Reading the label, it said that it was a flash grenade
"What does a flash grenade do?" she asked, lifting it up for Claire to see.
"It's kinda like a grenade, but instead of just exploding like the one I have, it explodes with a really bright flash of light. It's good for blinding and stunning whoever you throw it at. You should really take it. Just make sure to call out that you're about to throw it and that it's at a safe distance away from us. Oh, and don't forget to close your eyes after you do!" Claire informed her. Veronica hummed in affirmation before hooking it on one of her belt loops for easy access.
"Well, I think we've searched this room enough, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. It was kind of a bust, but we still have a whole station to get through. Let's go!" The two walked out a set of double doors on the other side of the office, finding a dark hallway that was empty and eerily quiet. The floor was flooded with water but still reeked of blood. Deciding to stay and look for any leftover supplies, the girls carefully took a turn in the hallway back towards the way they came in.
The water splashed quietly beneath their shoes as they walked with guns out and flashlights on. The hall was lined with abandoned boxes of files and chairs. A wall with missing person photos was plastered above a trio of broken payphones and forgotten posters of encouragement. All were signs of a time when things were normal before the outbreak. It was sad to think about it.
Nearing the end of the hallway, they found an area that looked like it was used to house civilians. A couple of sleeping bags and empty cans of soda littered the floor near some vending machines. Peering around the corner, they glanced down a long hallway that looked empty, and after carefully searching the rest of the area, they deemed it safe. They were able to pick up some supplies dotted in certain rooms: a first-aid spray in the bathroom, some ammo in what looked like a press room, and in a supply closet.
Considering this section clear, they decided to move on and head towards the rest of the station. Back towards the double doors they came out of, they went the other way to find some stairs that led to an open entryway. There was a body lying just beside it in a pool of blood with its head smashed in and drag marks leading out into the main hall. Fresh bloody boot prints caught their attention amongst the carnage.
"Must be Leon's. He must've gone out this way," Claire pointed out, leading them onward. Compared to the dark and damp area they had just come from, instead, they were met with the warm light of the main hall. Walking in, Veronica caught herself staring in awe at the majesty of the place.
Coming from around the bend, she could see that on the far side of the room stood a giant statue of a woman holding up a flag and shield atop a wooden platform. It was the most notable thing in the room. The hall was three floors tall as she could see, with stone columns lining each floor. There was a large set of stairways on either side of the statue leading to the second floor, but not to the third. There must be a different way to get up there. The walls were tiled with granite and trimmed with black brick and dark wood paneling. This place is too pretty to be a police station.
The place looked empty despite the chaos in its wake. There were medical supplies scattered everywhere, clearly signs of survivors trying to board up the doors. However, there was still fresh blood splattered on the ground and that put them on high alert. This place didn't seem to fare any better than the outside. Maybe this wasn't the best choice after all, but it was all they had.
"Anybody here!?" Claire suddenly shouted, her voice echoing in the room. Veronica jumped in surprise at that before trying to listen for anybody to respond. Nothing.
"Hello?!" she tried calling out, but still no response. "Where's Leon?"
Right after she asked that growling came from somewhere near the statue. An undead officer hobbled over towards them, but something about him looked different than the others. He still looked...fresh. Claire waited till he got close enough to shoot before firing. It took a couple of shots before he finally went down. They could hear more of the undead groaning somewhere in the room, one upstairs, and one still somewhere near the statue.
"Should we just take them out?" Veronica asked.
"Yeah. It would be a good idea to. Think you can do it?" Claire nodded down to the gun in the other's hand. Suddenly feeling really nervous, Veronica looked at her gun and swallowed the growing lump in her throat, her grasp tightening around the handle.
Claire noticed this and could see the hesitation on her face. Realizing how nervous Veronica really was, she gently placed a hand on her arm to gather her attention. Veronica glanced up at her to find a reassuring smile on Claire's face. It seemed to give her the confidence boost she needed.
"Y-yeah. I think so. It was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Don't worry! We'll take them on one at a time," Claire assured her. "Think of it as target practice. I got your back!"
The two carefully made their way towards the sounds of growling from behind the other side of the front desk. There they found one that was already beginning to head towards them near a door with a teal-colored spade insignia on it.
Veronica swallowed nervously as she raised her gun and aimed. There wasn't any time to think about it as she pulled back the hammer with her thumb. She could feel Claire at her side, watching the situation carefully, as well as trying to find the other zombie in the room.
"Ok. I can do this!" she whispered to herself as she tried to keep her hands from shaking. Even though they were at a good distance away, she couldn't hesitate anymore. Zombies weren't to be underestimated. Sometimes they moved faster than they looked.
"Take a deep breath, Veronica. You got this! But you gotta shoot now, 'cause he's getting close!" Claire warned. A gentle hand was placed on the back of her shoulder and that was enough for her.
With that encouragement in mind, the brunette did just that and finally took a leap of faith. Her finger pressed down on the trigger, the recoil catching her by surprise as it shocked through her arms. A shot rang out in the air and a bullet whizzed straight into the zombie's shoulder.
It wobbled at the impact but remained standing. With the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she shot again and again till her third shot finally hit the head. It fell back onto the floor and didn't get back up. She pulled back, body slightly trembling at the rush and the scary feeling of power she had in her hands. Her finger pulled away from the trigger out of reflex as she lowered the gun.
"Nice job!" Claire said, smoothing her hand over Veronica's shoulder blade comfortingly. "You ok? You're a little shaky there." Veronica took a deep breath before nodding and turning to look at Claire.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. The recoil was a little scary, but I'm ok. Sorry." Claire shook her head.
"Don't be. I know you were nervous. Being a first-timer isn't exactly easy when you never wanted to shoot in the first place."
"I guess, but we are not exactly in a situation where I can be nervous."
"You're right, but here's the thing. You did it! Regardless of how scared you were, you faced your fear and did it! And, even though I haven't known you long, for that I'm proud of you!" Veronica's chest fluttered intensely as Claire smiled at her. She opened her mouth to respond when the sound of shrieking from upstairs caught their attention. Looking up at the second floor on the other side of the room, a zombie seemed to notice them and began to slowly limp their way towards the stairs.
They quickly jogged over to meet the monster halfway and Claire easily took it down. The room was safe...for now. It was quiet with only the sounds of the wind howling, the rain hitting the roof, and the distant growls of the undead outside in the city. Leon was nowhere in sight, and the two girls could only hope they would find him somewhere in the station.